TRENTON
— Attorney General Peter
C. Harvey today announced that
New Jersey has established a first-of-its-kind
law enforcement education program
to eradicate racial profiling
from the ranks of police by implementing
a statewide Directive which comprehensively
defines and prohibits the discriminatory
practice of racially-influenced
policing. The Attorney General’s
Directive requires every New Jersey
police department and law enforcement
agency to adopt and enforce a
rule, regulation, or operating
procedure, and requires every
law enforcement officer -- from
new recruits to the most experienced
veterans -- to undergo an intensive
in-service and Academy-based course
of instruction.

In signing “Law Enforcement
Directive No. 2005-1,” Attorney
General Harvey noted that the
mandate and training program has
received the support and imprimatur
of the New Jersey State Association
of Chiefs of Police, the New Jersey
County Prosecutors Association,
the New Jersey State League of
Municipalities, the Police Training
Commission, the New Jersey State
Police, the Division of Criminal
Justice, and state, county, and
municipal officials. Additionally,
the program has been presented
to, and reviewed by, the Black
Ministers Council of New Jersey,
the NAACP, and the Rutgers Police
Institute.

“As Attorney
General, it is my responsibility
to ensure that all of our police
and law enforcement agencies are
properly trained and are knowledgeable
about the law, especially constitutional
rights. This is a pro-active program
that will help all police officers
serve and protect the public more
effectively,” Attorney General
Harvey said, “The State’s
new comprehensive non-discrimination
policy is designed to safeguard
the rights of all citizens and
to protect police officers by
providing clear rules regarding
racial profiling. The comprehensive
training course explains in great
detail what police officers can
do to enforce laws and protect
the public safety consistent the
State and Federal Constitutions.”

Joining the Attorney
General in support of the Directive
were ranking members of New Jersey’s
law enforcement and governing
community, including Vaughn L.
McKoy, Director, Division of Criminal
Justice; Chief Warren Wielgus,
President, New Jersey State Association
of Chiefs of Police; Hope Township
Mayor Tim McDonough, Executive
Board Member, New Jersey State
League of Municipalities; Thomas
F. Kelaher, Ocean County Prosecutor
and President, New Jersey Association
of County Prosecutors; Colonel
Joseph R. Fuentes, Superintendent,
New Jersey State Police; Assistant
Attorney General Daniel G. Giaquinto,
Director, Office of State Police
Affairs; Assistant Attorney General
John Kennedy, Director, Office
of Government Integrity; Assistant
Attorney General Ron Susswein,
Deputy Director, Division of Criminal
Justice; Hester Agudosi, Office
of Bias Crimes; and Anne M. Kriegner,
Chief State Investigator, Division
of Criminal Justice.

Additionally, dozens of county
and municipal police chiefs stood
in support of the Directive and
training program.

“We are
here today to cement our cooperative
law enforcement responsibilities
and initiatives and to assure
the public that New Jersey’s
law enforcement community stands
together in its resolve to eradicate
any form of discrimination in
the form of racial profiling,”
said Criminal Justice Director
McKoy.

The Attorney General’s
Office, along with the New Jersey
State Association of Chiefs of
Police, recognized that the problem
of racially-influenced policing
was by no means limited to the
State Police or to agencies that
conduct highway drug interdiction.
As a result, a specific definition
of racial profiling was developed
-- simply, that “a police
officer may not consider a person’s
race or ethnicity as a factor
in deciding whether that person
may be involved in criminal activity,
or in deciding how to treat that
person. Unless the officer is
responding to a suspect-specific
or investigation-specific “Be
On Lookout For” (BOLO) situation,
a person’s race or ethnicity
may play no part in the exercise
of police discretion.”

The Division
of Criminal Justice, in concert
with the Police Training Commission,
then developed an up-to-date video
training course that focuses on
situations municipal police and
other law enforcement officers
are likely to encounter. Two years
in development, the video training
course is based on the positive
experience with training state
troopers under a consent decree
with the United States Department
of Justice. The State Police training
curricula earned high praise from
independent monitors appointed
by the United States District
Court to oversee implementation
of the consent decree, and the
training is considered to have
laid the foundation for significant
reforms. For example, the training
course makes clear that a police
officer may not conclude that
a person seems to be “out
of place” or “up to
no good” based on considerations
of race or ethnicity. The training
course also explains why police
officers are prohibited from considering
a person’s race or ethnicity
in deciding whether the person
appears to “fit” or
“match” the vehicle
that he or she is operating.

"The issues
of racial profiling confronts
every police department -- large
and small, urban, suburban and
rural,” said Chief Wielgus.
“The New Jersey State Association
of Chiefs of Police recognized
that we must take decisive action
to curb any instance of racial
profiling and requested Attorney
General Harvey to develop a comprehensive
training program that would reach
every police officer in New Jersey.
The resulting training course
was specifically adapted to address
the needs of local police departments.
This in-service training program
explains in clear terms exactly
what is prohibited under the law
and our statewide non-discrimination
policy.

We wish to thank
Attorney General Harvey and the
Division of Criminal Justice for
making this course available.
We are proud that New Jersey is
the first state in the nation
to require every police officer
to participate in such a comprehensive
examination of the racial profiling
controversy.”

The video training
program, produced by the Division
of Criminal Justice, will be provided
through the New Jersey State Association
of Chiefs of Police to nearly
51,500 police and law enforcement
officers assigned to 479 full-time
municipal police departments,
two county police departments,
three county park police departments,
13 college/university police departments,
two part-time municipal police
departments, 21 county prosecutor
and Sheriff’s offices’,
the NJ Transit Police, the Palisades
Interstate Park Police, and police
and law enforcement officers assigned
to seven state departments and/or
divisions.

"We must
and we will do all that we can
to assure the public that our
state's mayors, elected officials
and Police Departments oppose
any form of racially biased conduct
by our local law enforcement agencies.
We firmly believe that the overwhelming
majority of men and women who
carry out the day to day law enforcement
duties in our State's municipalities
do so in a dedicated and professional
manner and without bias toward
any of our citizens. Those who
have abused the public trust are
a small number of individuals
and they tarnish the reputations
of their police colleagues. Training
is important and must be provided
on a continuing basis. We applaud
the Attorney General for expanding
the required training to include
specific programs to ensure fair
treatment of all of our citizens,"
said Mayor McDonough.

The Directive
requires that all police agencies
implement the rule, regulation,
or standard operating procedure
(SOP) within 60 days, and they
must certify that all officers,
regardless of rank or duty assignment,
complete the training within 180
days. The county prosecutor’s
will serve as liaison to the Attorney
General’s Office and will
assist in the implementation of
the training program in their
respective counties.

“Each of
the 21 county prosecutor’s
have been part of the planning
and development of the training
program,” said Ocean County
Prosecutor Kelaher. “Each
prosecutor will work with their
police departments to implement
operating procedures and to certify
the training of individual officers.
This program stands as a hallmark
in the effort to ensure that racial
profiling does not creep into
our county and municipal law enforcement
responsibilities.”

Attorney General
Harvey noted that the New Jersey
State Police and the Office of
State Police Affairs is anticipating
the issuance of the 12th Independent
Monitors Report as required by
the 1999 federal Consent Decree.
It is anticipated that the 12th
Report will surpass the prior
report issued in December, 2004,
and which determined that there
was no evidence of racial profiling
by the State Police. The December,
2004, Report praised the New Jersey
State Police for having made “remarkable
progress” in such key areas
as field operations, trooper training
and personnel supervision.

"State Police
leadership understands the concerns
of minorities, the issues of disparate
treatment, the need for accountability,
and the importance of continued
training and education to provide
every law enforcement officer
the knowledge and tools to perform
their jobs fairly and impartially,"
stated Col. Fuentes. "This
cutting edge training program
will insure county and local law
enforcement share in the state
police commitment to protect the
constitutional rights of all citizens."

“The police
officer training program successfully
developed for state troopers,
and now adapted for municipal
police officers, puts New Jersey’s
police and law enforcement community
in the forefront of the effort
to eradicate racial profiling
from all levels and sectors of
policing,” Attorney General
Harvey concluded.

Additional information,
including Attorney General Directive
2005-1, the full text of the training
program (Companion Guide), Skills
Assessment, overview of New Jersey’s
Racial Profile Policy, a streaming
video which overviews the training
initiative, a guide instructing
police officers on what they can
do to investigate criminal activity,
along with web links to the Police
Training Commission, federal monitor’s
reports, and related information
is available via the Division
of Criminal Justice Web site at
www.njdcj.org.